Harmony of Souls
by Gwendolyn McCormick
Summary: Harry and Hermione finally took the time to really think about whether they were friends... or more. Inspired by "Harry Potter and Future's Past" by Driftwood1965. This time they discovered their soul bond without Miranda, and are hopefully able to keep their friendship with Ron. Cover art based on Driftwood1965's description of Hermione's promise ring.


**A/N: I don't own Harry Potter. This is a Harmony shipping inspired by _Harry Potter and Future's Past_ by Driftwood1965. I was intrigued by the soul bond and the question of what would be different if Harry and Hermione had discovered it without the time travel. So, here is the attempt I'm making to show the soul bond being discovered naturally, and with Harry and Hermione trying to save their friendship with Ron. Potion-using Ginny! Set mostly in fifth year.**

Harry had first noticed Cho in third year. She was a year older than he, so he had never had classes with her, but she had also always been the only girl seeker on any of the house teams during Harry's years at Hogwarts. Harry hadn't known why, but he had been immediately attracted to her, most likely because of his love of quidditch. Cho was also far enough removed (different house, different year) to not act like a fan-girl which had been another appeal. Harry hadn't really thought about Cho much after that quidditch match, but when the Yule Ball approached, Cho had been the first girl of which Harry thought. It had been quite a blow to be turned down, but Cho had been nice about it, and Harry's esteem for her had risen. He just wished he had asked her first.

The Yule Ball itself had been awkward. Harry had been jealous of Cedric, but Ron's jealousy at Hermione with Krum had taken the cake. Ron had bounced through so many emotions that it had made Harry's head hurt. First Ron had been _sure_ that Hermione had made up the fact that she was going with someone else. And then Ron had been _sure_ that Hermione was nothing more than a secret fan-girl, and that was why she hung around people like Harry and Krum and it explained that ridiculous crush on Lockhart in second year. Ron had even gone so far as to accuse Hermione of being a traitor to their friendship. It had all been horribly trying. Harry had even walked in on Ron and Hermione having a huge row after the ball. Hermione had declared that Ron was just jealous even if he wouldn't admit it; Ron had insisted that wasn't what was going on. Harry had tried not to get in the way of whatever possible feelings Ron and Hermione might have had towards each other and had just focused on getting through the rest of the school year.

When fifth year started, Harry had begun to think that Cho was interested in him. She had joined Dumbledore's Army, and frequently seemed to be trying to get a chance to talk to Harry alone. It had made Harry feel all bubbly inside, even though he and Cho still hadn't really said more than a few words to each other.

And then there had been Christmas, and Harry's first kiss with Cho under the mistletoe. The kiss had been brief, and Harry had felt conflicted about it. On the one hand, the act of kissing had seemed pleasurable, but on the other hand, Cho had been crying. At least Hermione was able to shed some light on the situation, but the more Hermione explained, the worse Harry felt.

Finally there had been the horrible Valentine's Day date. Harry had been so confused by the entire ordeal and to top it off he had somehow caused Cho to scream and cry and storm out. The date had been doomed to begin with. Nothing had felt right, or at least not how Harry had expected it to feel, and even when he thought he understood what was going on, he realized he didn't understand anything that was going on. Why had Cho told him that Roger Davies had asked her out? And why had Cho brought up her dead ex-boyfriend?

When Cho stormed out, Harry had tried to go after her, but she had been too quick and Harry felt he had lost his chance to apologize, not that he was entirely sure what to apologize for.

**oOoOo**

_Cho's never going to speak to me again,_ Harry thought as he made his way to the Three Broomsticks to meet Hermione. The weather was icy, stormy, snowy, and nose-freezing, and Harry lamented bitterly that the weather seemed to be mirroring Cho's mood. The Three Broomsticks was wonderfully warm in comparison though, and Harry felt as though he had just slipped into a warm bath upon entering. He spotted Hermione quickly; her wild curls always stood out a stark contrast to everyone else.

Harry sat down with Hermione and explained how badly his date had gone. Hermione gave him a sympathetic and slightly exasperated smile, and then proceeded to explain everything that Harry had done wrong. Additionally, after a moment of reflection, Hermione explained that Harry should've told Cho how ugly he thought Hermione was.

"But I don't think you're ugly at all!" Harry exclaimed.

"Really?" Hermione's smile was radiant, but then she cleared her throat and amended, "Well, that's probably another part of the problem."

Harry suddenly understood. Cho was jealous. Harry had never considered Hermione ugly, but he had never really paid much attention to her as a girl before. Obviously, he knew she _was_ a girl – he wasn't Ron – but her beauty had never occurred to Harry before. It made sense now why Cho thought Harry was two-timing her: Hermione was very pretty too. If Harry was honest with himself, Hermione was even prettier than Cho. But Hermione was one of his best friends and he didn't think about her that way. Or at least, he hadn't before.

Harry pushed the subject from his mind and focused on trying to get through reliving Cedric's death and Voldemort's return for Rita Skeeter's article which turned out to be a sensation. Cho was back quick-as-can-be, telling Harry how brave she thought he was and how she was sorry she over-reacted on their date. She didn't bring up the subject of a second date, and Harry really didn't feel like asking. If this was what dating was – mind games, confusion, false blame, and drama – then Harry decided he didn't need it. Umbridge was cracking down worse than ever, and there was no point in dragging Cho into the middle of it. Harry never found a way to explain, but Cho appeared to not be the "waiting" type, and she soon moved on.

With Umbridge's ban on quidditch for Harry and the Weasley twins, Harry got to spend a lot of time alone with Hermione. Once or twice, Harry caught himself staring at her as she worked. Again, it seemed that Harry was blind-sided by Hermione's beauty and her passion. Harry had always known that he liked Hermione, but he had never considered the possibility that maybe he _liked_ her. He looked at Hermione again and felt a flutter in his stomach, his mind bringing up a picture of her at the Yule Ball in her sparkly, periwinkle robes. The thought changed to Hermione's shouting match with Ron, and Harry felt like smacking himself in the face.

_Ron fancies Hermione_. It was amazing that the thought wasn't more jarring. Harry supposed that he always knew: the way they argued about what Harry should or shouldn't be doing and why, always fretting over him like a twisted version of a mom and dad. They were the same, and yet different, like two sides of the same coin. Harry sighed and resolved to put his own feelings aside, but he was never really able to. Unfortunately, without Quidditch as an anger outlet, and detentions with Umbridge adding fuel to his emotional fire, even when Harry was with Hermione he was in a bad mood.

**oOoOo**

Soon, it was time for Gryffindor's Quidditch match against Ravenclaw. Harry and Hermione took seats in the stands together to support the team, but they weren't in the stands for long. Hagrid came and asked them to leave with him, so they did. It was a horrid morning with Grawp and the centaur difficulties, and even the quidditch party couldn't raise their spirits. Harry and Hermione stayed huddled together most of the party, conversing in low voices and trying not to ruin Ron's night. They both ended up leaving early for bed, too preoccupied to notice Ron and Ginny bragging loudly and trying to get their attention.

Ron finally came to bed sometime after two, accidentally waking Harry in the process. Harry rolled over and tried to go back to sleep, but by three he'd decided it was hopeless. Harry quietly returned to the common room and was surprised to see Hermione sitting on one of the couches reading.

"Hi," Harry said. "I didn't think anyone else was awake."

Hermione jumped guiltily, quickly closed her book, and tucked it into the cushion between her and the arm of the couch. "Um, hi." She said, blushing slightly. "I, uh, woke up about an hour ago when Lavendar and Parvati came up. They were giggling a bit loudly, and I couldn't get back to sleep."

Harry nodded, "Ron woke me up too." Harry sat on the other end of the couch and frowned. "Why're you trying to hide your book?"

Hermione's blush deepened. "Oh, um, well, it's not mine. It's Ginny's, and it..." She stopped with a sigh. "Please don't think badly of me," she said as she pulled the book out from between the cushions and passed it to Harry.

Harry was disgusted to see that it was a romance novel about himself and he dropped it quickly. "Urg, what is that?"

"It's part of _The Man Who Lived _series," Hermione admitted, reaching over and taking the book back. "After you defeated Voldemort as a baby, no one in the wizarding world knew what happened to you. There were only rumors, so this witch wrote fantasy stories about what she thought your life would be like. You know, raised as a prince with extraordinary magical talents and all of that."

Harry cringed. "So that's where all these girls get those stupid ideas."

Hermione gave him a sympathetic smile, and Harry's stomach fluttered. "Unfortunately the stories have already been written, and there's nothing you can do about it now, except remind people that these books are fiction."

"We could always burn them," Harry said, only partly joking.

"Ginny would kill me," Hermione returned with a wry smile.

Harry chuckled and shifted into a more comfortable position on the couch. He was tired, and the common room was peaceful. He leaned his head back and closed his eyes, smiling slightly when he heard the sounds of Hermione flipping a page every minute or so. Then Harry remembered what she was reading, and wondered why she would bother. Determined to ask, he opened his eyes and said, "You are so beautiful."

Hermione looked up in surprise and Harry felt like kicking himself for blurting that out. How did asking about the book change into a compliment? Harry blamed his honesty on sleep deprivation.

Hermione took a moment to respond. Harry thought she looked puzzled. Finally she simply said, "Thank you, Harry. That's very sweet of you to say."

Harry watched as Hermione frowned slightly and moved her eyes back to the book in her hands, but Harry could tell she wasn't reading. The silence between them grew, and Harry started feeling awkward. He hoped that Hermione wasn't mad at him.

"To be honest," Hermione said quietly, distracting Harry. "I've always thought you were very handsome too."

"Er, thanks," Harry said, a smile lighting up his face. His stomach gave a small flutter and then subsided. Harry was sure that Hermione was just being friendly by returning the compliment. It wasn't like she was confessing feelings for him or anything. And then Hermione smiled, and the fluttering sensation tripled.

They sat there, just looking at each other for a moment before Hermione looked away. Harry, on the other hand, couldn't keep his eyes off of her. He noticed she was just pretending to read again, and that her frown had returned. Harry didn't want to see Hermione unhappy. In fact it had suddenly become very important to Harry that Hermione never be unhappy again.

It occurred to Harry that maybe _he_ was making her unhappy. What if Hermione fancied someone else and was worried about hurting Harry's feelings and their friendship? What if Hermione liked Ron? Harry frowned, wondering if he had crossed some invisible line and worrying that things between him and Hermione would become awkward.

Hermione shifted slightly on the couch. Harry looked up to see that Hermione had given up pretending to read, set the book aside, and turned to face him. She took a deep breath and then spoke. "I don't want to ruin our friendship," she said. "And I think that means we should talk about this."

Harry gulped, turning his body to face hers without realizing. "Talk about what?" He tried feigning ignorance.

Hermione glared at him. "About this. About us."

Harry's stomach gave a hopeful lurch. "Us?"

Hermione sighed. "I don't want to ruin our friendship," she repeated. "And I never really thought about this much until now, but Harry, you are an amazing, wonderful person. Any girl would be lucky to have you." Hermione paused, but Harry knew she wasn't finished. "Including me," she finally admitted. "I would like to know what your feelings are."

Happiness soared within Harry. "You are brilliant, compassionate, beautiful, and I like you, Hermione," he said sincerely. "I think I've always liked you, but I just didn't know it. I was also worried about..." Harry paused, but Hermione seemed to understand.

"Ron," she finished quietly.

Harry nodded. "I thought he fancied you, and I didn't want to get in the way."

"If you like a person and never tell them and they date someone else, it's your own fault," Hermione said matter-of-factly.

Harry remembered Cedric beating him to asking Cho out and understood exactly what Hermione meant. "Well, I guess I was concerned that you liked Ron back."

Hermione snorted. "I have never been interested in Ron. At first I thought he liked me, and didn't know how to deal with it. But Ron and I have nothing in common and he has never shown any real interest in me. We argue all the time, about everything, and he constantly belittles my beliefs. The only time he ever showed any interest in me was when I went with Viktor to the Yule Ball. At first I thought he was jealous that I was going with someone else, but after thinking about it for a while I realized that he was probably just jealous that I had a date when he didn't. Then there was that fact that my date happened to be Viktor Krum: from Ron's perspective, why would a famous quidditch player want to take me as his date?"

"Ron's an idiot," Harry said with a chuckle. And then he noticed Hermione frowning again. "What's wrong?"

Hermione shrugged. "Ron wasn't the only one who thought that. You remember all the hate mail I received after that stupid Rita Skeeter article. I never told you, but it was more than just mail. There were a lot of rumors going around, some of them about love potions but most were about," Hermione flushed red from embarrassment and cleared her throat, "other things," she finished.

"None of that is true though," Harry reminded her. "I'm sorry I never knew about the rumors. If I had, I would have cursed the lot of those morons." After a moment, Harry added, "I know why Viktor chose you."

"You do?" Hermione looked skeptical. Harry grinned.

"You might be the smartest witch in class, but sometimes you can be so dumb," Harry teased. "Viktor chose you because you're you."

Hermione had scowled at Harry when he called her dumb, but by the time he had finished speaking her scowl had turned pensive. "What does that mean?"

"You're not a fan-girl. Well, not usually – the Lockhart incident still has me a bit baffled."

"I was thirteen and in love with his writing!" Hermione shifted uncomfortably. "Books have always resonated with me in ways that most people just don't. I guess I was enamored by the fact that not only was Lockhart the hero of all his books, but he was also the author."

"I guess I can understand that. But he was still a big fat fraud." Harry chuckled and Hermione scowled. "With regards to Krum though, you were probably the only girl in school who wasn't chasing after him," Harry said. "You didn't care that he was famous. It's probably because you've been around me for so long, you realized that all he wanted was someone normal that he could talk to. That's all he really wanted."

Hermione shrugged modestly, but Harry could see that she looked happier. "Is that all you want, too?"

Harry nodded. "Someone I can be friends with, as well as more. Someone who understands me and doesn't try to make me jealous or confused." Hermione didn't say anything at first, and after a few minutes of silence Harry asked, "So now what do we do?"

"I don't know," Hermione admitted. "I suppose we could do an experiment."

Harry was wary. "Experiment? I like you, you like me, shouldn't that be enough?"

"Enough to start dating, maybe. But enough to keep our friendship in tact afterwards? Besides, we don't even know if we really like each other, we just think we might. Just a few months ago you were with Cho, and I was doing fan-girl damage control. So I propose this: we kiss once, consider what it meant to us, discuss what it meant to the other person, and then decide about dating afterwards. We might find that we have no spark and can just continue being friends."

Harry felt that Hermione had the right idea; at least this way their kiss would be very scientific which would hopefully minimize any hurt feelings. He nodded.

Hermione tucked a loose curl hind her ear. "I'm ready," she said, leaning forward and closing her eyes.


End file.
